4 Tips for a Web Copy That Converts

Websites are an important marketing channel for small businesses. But how do you actually write web copy that converts web visitors into paying customers?

After you put in all the work and you finally get your ideal customers to find your website, you really want them to read it, love it and buy it. You want to turn them into loyal customers that love your brand.

So here are 4 basic principles of writing web copy that converts for your small business website. Check them out!

1. The customer is key

A lot of small business websites simply describe their services or products and how you can purchase them. But there’s a better way to win people over.

Ask yourself: Who is my target market? What are they looking for when searching online for what I offer? How can I help them and make their life easier?

Use this information to tell your website visitors what they gain from choosing you! Answer their questions, solve their problems and your conversion rate will be your best friend.

Another way to see if your focus is on your customer is to compare your use of “you/your” to words like “we/us/our” (or “me/mine/I”). There are free tools to help you with that (e.g. the Customer Focus Calculator).

The general rule of thumb is that 70% of your web copy should be about your potential customer, 30% about yourself and your business. So how does yours look?

2. It’s all about the benefits

In marketing, we dustinguish between features and benefits of a product. Features are basically a description of what your services include or your product can do.

But to write web copy that converts, you need to think about the product benefits. Those are the perks that your product has for the buyer, the solutions it provides for your customer’s problems, the answer to their needs.

In order to make your web visitors buy from you, you should concentrate on your products’ benefits. You can add the features to the product description when people are looking for more details before they make a purchase.

But even there, the benefits make for a better headline than the dry, simple facts of your products’ or services’ features.

3. Focus

I know it is really tempting to tell the visitors to your website about ALL your products and services. You want to share every little thing you can do for them and, on top of that, what people you know can do for them!

But nothing is more confusing than that. So in every respect: Focus! When you want to write web copy that converts, you have to concentrate on your core expertise, your main product and your USP.

More importantly: Stay within your brand, the tone of voice that defines your company and don’t use jargon that your customer doesn’t understand.

Be clear, simple and straightforward in what you’re offering and your customers will happily read on.

4. Typos

Typos and grammatical errors are quite off-putting when it comes to converting web visitors to loyal customers. I mean, does a company that doesn’t even spend the time to do a spell check look reliable and professional to you?

So, better take your time and check your web copy before it goes online. Also, you can ask somebody to read through the text to double-check.

Or else you might end up like this California-based travel agency that lost 80% of their business when they suddenly offered erotic instead of exotic destinations.

KEEP READING

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